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PELHAM MANOR, N.Y. A 5,000 gallon fuel delivery truck exploded at approximately 2 a.m. Friday at the Gulf gas station at 5 Secor Lane.
No one was hurt in the explosion, according to Pelham Manor Fire Department chief Joseph Ruggiero. Officials are working to determine the exact cause.
The fire nearly obliterated the convenience store at the gas station and the truck itself was barely more than a metal shell by 10:00 a.m. The explosion also caused significant damage to the auto repair shop next door and cracked nine windows at the Sleepy's store across the street.
The department received a call about a possible explosion and truck fire around 2 a.m. When firefighters arrived on the scene, they saw the blaze consuming the truck and the immediate area.
"It was bad," Ruggiero said. "It was a mess."
Ruggiero said the driver was making a delivery to the station and pumping the fuel into a blue tank located directly behind the station. At some point during the transfer process, the driver felt heat on his back.
When he turned around, he saw flames. The driver ran down the block to escape the blaze, as did the gas station attendant on duty.
Ruggiero said firefighters extinguished the flames within a few hours.Workers from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation took water and soil samples to ensure that no hazardous materials leaked into the earth.
Members of the Coast Guard were also on the scene because of the creek that flows behind the gas station. A hazmat team from New York City also came to the site.
Ruggiero said a county engineer inspected a significant crack in the brick of the auto repair shop but determined that there had been no deviation to the side caused by the explosion.
The chief said it is possible that there had been some forward deviation and he was waiting for an engineer to arrive. Workers boarded up the windows of the shop to prevent vandalism.
Check back here for more updates on the explosion.
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Contact Pelham reporter Andrew Meola at ameola@thedailypelham.com.
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